WHITECAP — Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand challenged the leaders of each political party, especially the Saskatchewan Party and opposition Saskatchewan NDP, to discuss their plans to address the homelessness issue in the province since the weather is hitting below double digits.
Arcand was re-elected for a third term to lead the STC, which is composed of seven First Nations — the Kinistin Saulteaux Nation, Mistawasis Nehiyawak, Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Muskoday First Nation, One Arrow First Nation, Whitecap Dakota First Nation, and Yellow Quill First Nation. The election was on Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Dakota Dunes Casino.
Arcand, from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, garnered 40 votes against the 35 of Robert Daniels, from Mistawasis Nehiyawak. Delegates from the seven-member nations voted during the STC assembly. He addressed members of the media after the assembly and election.
“I'm concerned about the provincial election right now because no candidate has put homelessness as a top priority. It's just as important as education, housing, and the health care system. We need proper investments as service providers to help people get the proper service. When we don't get that, people are going to be falling on the hospital care system or the incarceration rate system,” Arcand told reporters after earning another four-year mandate.
“We need the government actually to make these announcements. When are we going to start talking about homelessness? There are 800 people on the street, and more are coming. We've got a problem, and that's only one city. What about the rest of our province? We must put those leaders to say it's a top priority as everybody else and ensure we get adequate funding.”
So far, both parties have committed to making affordable housing accessible. The Saskatchewan Party has also promised a roll-out tax credit and committed to addressing homelessness and addictions if they remain in government. Meanwhile, the opposition is dedicated to bringing an initial 500 housing units to address the situation, adding that at least 3,000 government-owned unused houses all over the province are ready for occupancy.
Arcand, who is supporting the candidacy of Gordon Wyant for Saskatoon mayor, said he had also discussed the issue of shutting down the STC emergency wellness centre in Fairhaven and moving it to another area of the city near the other organizations that provide services to homeless people if elected to replace Charlie Clark on the Nov. 13 civic elections.
“I've talked to Gordon Wyant. We agree that the shelter should be moved, but it has to be in the proper location. It has to do what's suitable for the community. I don't know how long that'll take, but we look at how hard it was to find the other shelter at the end of the day. We've got much work to do on pre-planning instead of making these snap decisions at council and doing many things,” said Arcand
“I'm encouraged by it, but we've got to have the proper location because it's got to include all [services] so people can have access [to it]. Where [the shelter] goes, that's not my decision. We're just a service provider, but we're open to moving. We're open to relocating, but it must be the proper place with everything to support homelessness. Because we can see they just did a people-in-time count, which is about, I'm going to guess, 800 people on our streets, right, based on our stats and data.”
He added that he would return to work after spending time with his family because people on the streets need help as the weather gets colder. There are also not enough warming shelters, forcing them to accommodate more at the ETC in Fairhaven if additional money is given to provide services, he said.
“I'm prepared to open my doors at the Emergency Wellness Centre if we get funding to support people, and that's the priority. It is to keep people warm this winter; we should have this in place long ago. I'll say City Council, City Administration, we're behind the eight ball here, and nobody's pushing, but I'm going to have to move because it will help all people,” said Arcand.
He also backed the decision of the three mayoralty candidates — Wyant, Don Atchison, and Mike Harder — that safe consumption sites do not solve the problem of addiction and drug use, adding that he has never supported this.
“The goal is to try to get people off addictions. The goal is to try to get them the help [they need]. If we have to build something where there's supervised consumption, whether it's doctors, to wean people off, that would probably be a better investment, right? So, people can get off drugs,” said Arcand.
“We see the crisis of drugs in our communities; we know what it's doing to everybody; we see the desperation of vandalism, people stealing to break-and-enters, to everything, to support their drug addiction. So, we've got to think of something different, but we do need help for those safe injection sites, if you want to call them that, where we've got to change how it looks and have doctors involved, Medicare, so it helps the person get off the drugs. That's the goal.”
He added that those struggling with addiction need support to get out of their habit, get cleaned, and be a productive part of society so they can have a quality of life.
